The CDC COVID Data Tracker reports that nationally, COVID test positivity was 5.0 percent the week ending Oct. 26, down from 5.5 percent the previous week. Emergency room visits for COVID-diagnosed patients were 0.6 percent, the same as the week before. The percent of all deaths in the U.S. due to COVID was 1.1 percent, down from 1.3 percent the previous week.

To obtain a COVID vaccination or booster shots, or COVID test kits, consult with your healthcare provider or pharmacy. Or visit the Indiana Department of Health website page on Where to Find a COVID-19 Vaccine.

Order Your 4 Free At-⁠Home COVID-⁠19 Tests 

It was recently announced that every U.S. household is eligible to order four free at-⁠home tests. COVID-19 testing can help you know if you have COVID-19 so you can decide what to do next, like getting treatment to reduce your risk of severe illness and taking steps to lower your chances of spreading the virus to others. Your order of COVID tests is completely free – you won’t even pay for shipping. Orders can take at least a week to arrive. Visit COVIDTests.gov

ALSO: RSV vaccines continue to be available, and updated influenza and COVID-19 vaccines that can provide protection during the 2024–25 respiratory illness season are now widely available in autumn 2024.

NOTE: The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) is restructuring its website to streamline access to COVID-19 data, aligning it more closely with information on other respiratory conditions such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza. This adjustment aims to enhance user accessibility and facilitate easier navigation for locating relevant public health data.

In 2025, IDOH will launch a pan-respiratory data dashboard that combines public health metrics such as hospital admissions, syndromic surveillance, mortality, and wastewater concentration data across three vital respiratory conditions seen in our state, including influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). 

 

What CDC knows

It's fall and winter virus season, so it's time to get your recommended immunizations, one of the core strategies in CDC's respiratory virus guidance. Layering on other strategies, like meeting outdoors or wearing a mask, may depend on virus activity in your area. To help you make informed decisions, CDC shares timely data on respiratory illnesses.

What CDC is doing

CDC collects a variety of respiratory illness data and has taken steps to clearly show trends in disease activity and illness severity. Check out CDC's updated Respiratory Illness Data Channel for the latest information on trends in flu, COVID-19, and RSV, as well as overall respiratory illnesses.

 

Make a plan to get your recommended vaccines

Flu, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cause most hospitalizations due to respiratory illness during fall and winter. With fall arriving, it's time to plan to get your recommended vaccines. Staying up to date with vaccines against flu and COVID-19 (and RSV immunization, if recommended for you) protects you from severe disease, hospitalization, and death.

 

Recommended immunizations protect people and save lives

Last year (2023-24), CDC estimates:

Flu vaccination prevented:

  • At least 7 million influenza illnesses
  • 3.7 million influenza-associated medical visits
  • 105,000 influenza-associated hospitalizations
  • 3,500 influenza-associated deaths in the United States

COVID-19 vaccines:

  • Reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 by about half.

RSV immunizations:

 
  
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Local News Briefs

Winamac Community HS drama to present comedy/mystery Nov. 8-10

WINAMAC - The Winamac Community High School drama department will stage The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 as its 2024 fall production to be presented the weekend of Nov. 8-10, at the WCHS Auditorium.

Productions will be performed at 7 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Nov. 8 and 9; and a matinee at 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 10. Pre-sale, seat-specific tickets will go on sale beginning Monday, Oct. 28 at the high school.

Uptown Project Outdoor Holiday Market Nov. 9

FRANCESVILLE – The Uptown Project of Francesville will hold its annual Outdoor Holiday Market, which also includes a 5K event, on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 9.

Events will run from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., centered on Francesviille’s downtown streets.

Fall installment of property taxes due Nov. 12

Pulaski County taxpayers are reminded by the Pulaski County Treasurer's Office that the fall installment of property taxes are due by 4 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 12. 

Taxpayers may make payments in person on weekdays between Oct. 21 and Nov. 12 at one of two county locations. Tax payments may also be mailed to the county treasurer's office, paid online, or paid at one of three county banks.

PCPL announces November programs, activities

The Pulaski County Public Library has listed its programs and activities for November. They include the annual “Our Heroes’ Tree,” a food drive, a recycling of old eyeglasses program, a Golden Experiences Art Exhibit, nature programs, and a Medicare 101 session.

For more information on any program, call the library at 574-946-3432 or visit the library’s website at www.pulaskicounty.lib.in.us.

Community film screening of ‘The Addict’s Wake’ Nov. 22

Documentary explores family, community impact of U.S. addiction crisis

Glory Girl Productions, in collaboration with Pulaski County Drug-Free Council (PCDFC) and the Community Foundation of Pulaski County, will present a screening of the award-winning documentary, The Addict’s Wake, to the Pulaski County community at 6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22, at the West Central Elementary School gym.

Admission is free, thanks to the generous sponsorship of 4C Health and BraunAbility. Viewer discretion is advised and is generally recommended for those over the age of 12.

Funding opportunity available for substance misue projects through Pulaski County Drug-Free Council

Do you care about reducing substance misuse in our county? Do you have an idea that could prevent misuse or help people enter recovery? Do you need funding to make your idea a reality?

The Drug-Free Council is pleased to announce that approximately $27,000 is available in grant awards to address problems related to substance misuse in Pulaski County.

  

Indiana News

Completed Indiana harvest: corn 88%, soybeans 93%

EAST LANSING, MI – Small rain showers helped to ease dusty harvest conditions across Indiana last week, which allowed farmers to make swift harvest progress, according to Nathanial Warenski, state statistician, USDA NASS, Indiana Field Office.

Topsoil moisture levels increased from the previous week, with 26 percent rated adequate or surplus. The average temperature for the week was 55.5 degrees Fahrenheit, 4.6 degrees above normal for the state. The statewide average precipitation was 0.29 inches, 0.36 inches below normal.

NIPSCO shares tips for Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month

MERRILLVILLE – In recognition of Carbon Monoxide Awareness Month in November, NIPSCO urges customers to beware of the “Silent Killer” that claims the lives of hundreds of Americans each year.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, tasteless, and non-corrosive gas that is produced when fuels (such as gasoline, wood, natural gas, propane or oil) burn incompletely. While natural gas does not contain CO, it can be generated when there is insufficient oxygen for fuels to burn correctly.

Pulaski County unemployment dips to 3.6% in September

Pulaski County's unemployment rate dipped to 3.6 percent in September, down from 3.8 percent in August, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported Monday, (Oct. 28). The rate was 2.5 percent a year ago.

The state's September unemployment rate was 4.3 percent (seasonally adjusted), up from 4.2 percent in August. The August 2023 rate was 3.5 percent. The U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in August (seasonally adjusted), down fractionally from 4.2 percent in August. A year ago, the national rate was 3.8 percent.

New ‘Outdoor Indiana’ features 2025 calendar, holiday lights

INDIANAPOLIS - Do you or someone you know love looking at photos of Indiana’s outdoors and learning more about the many recreational opportunities it offers?

A money-saving holiday gift solution is ordering a subscription to Outdoor Indiana magazine before Dec. 10. Outdoor Indiana subscriptions can also be purchased on their own, or as part of a Holiday Gift Pack that also includes a gift card and a 2025 annual entrance pass to Indiana State Parks.

 

Indiana COVID-19 News

IDH, CDC respiratory illness updates reported

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 29) - The Indiana Department of Health reported Oct. 29 that COVID-like illness emergency department visits numbered 293 from Oct. 16-22, up two from its previous weekly report.

There were no state COVID-19 hospital admissions (Oct. 20-26) unchanged from the week before. The state reported one death in the seven-day period (reflects confirmed COVID deaths reported to IDH).

  

Post News

2024 Election: Pulaski County voters choose new commissioners

Returns by precinct now posted

Republicans Jenny Halleck Knebel and Don Street Jr. will be Pulaski County’s new commissioners in January, following the results of the 2024 General Election Tuesday.

In addition to the new county commissioner, the county elected one new member to the Winamac Town Council, and two new members to the Eastern Pulaski School Board in contested races.

CFPC announces 2025 Lilly Scholarship finalists

Five students from two area high schools have been named finalists in the Community Foundation of Pulaski County Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship process, which is a merit-based scholarship in the county.

The finalists are: Jalie Glasford from West Central High School, and Corrin Combs, Claire Goodman, Kamryn Huddleston and Linzy Walters from Winamac Community High School.

Alliance Bank employees donate to ‘Building Hope for Veterans’ project

FRANCESVILLE – Alliance Bank employees, as part of their ongoing “Casual for a Cause” program have made a donation of $2,400 to the Mary T. Klinker Veterans Resource Center in Boswell, west of Lafayette.

The new “Restoring Hope” facility is being set up at the former Boswell National Guard Armory with a mission to restore hope to veterans who have become lost in life through financial assistance, peer support and the facilitation of a veteran-centered approach to healing.

LifeWise Academy program opens for EPES students

WINAMAC – LifeWise Academy, a new optional program offering for students in grades 1-5 at Eastern Pulaski Elementary School, opened Monday (Oct. 21) as students returned from fall break.

LifeWise is a non-profit, privately-funded, Released Time for Religious Instruction (RTRI) program that provides Bible-based education to public school students. Founded in 2018 in Ohio, the academy now has programs in 29 states serving a projected 50,000 students in the 2024-25 school year.

‘Food for Thought’ offered through Pulaski County 4-H 

With STEM-based activities that are fun, engaging, and accessible to young people everywhere, youth are enabled to develop observations and problem-solving skills while they make discoveries and develop confidence in STEM (science-technology-engineering-math) subjects.

This was the goal with fifth grade students at Eastern Pulaski Elementary School last week through “Food for Thought,” which included looking at food security and supply chain.

Plans move forward for West Central's next construction projects

FRANCESVILLE – The West Central School Board was updated on the corporation’s next construction project by Superintendent Dr. Cathy Rowe at its Oct. 3 meeting.

The project includes several improvements throughout the campus, from a new roof at the elementary school to new bleachers at the football field.